Mittons Favourite DisHonored Artwork

Have you ever wondered what the Art Director of a videogame thinks about the art? Sebastien Mitton of Arkane Studios gives us his thoughts on his top 10 Dishonored artwork.

01_pano_london
This is the very first pencil drawing we did when the game was set in London, in 1666. I’m a bit nostalgic when it comes to this one, but in a positive way. This is the piece of art that triggered lots of excellent work in terms of architecture – all the landmarks…there were more than 80 cathedrals in the skyline by that time. There is this very specific skeleton aspect to the facades, there is a canyon feeling in the streets, there are strong shadows.
02_Buildings_covered
The plague plays an important role in our game. After many hours of research exploring narratives from the Black Plague period, we used some testimonies as a starting point for visual expression. The purpose of this exploration was to give the player a great visual impact by increasing this dystopia feeling in the city. The inspiration from this specific example (cut for gameplay consistency) came from the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who mixed with the lime wash used in mass graves.
03_Crossbow_Refs
As a visual designer, it is a fun experience and a great challenge to align visual appeal, engineering and functionality, nice animations, and a sense of power with a handcrafted weapon that you can upgrade in different ways!